Russell Wilson is the best quarterback in the history of the Seattle Seahawks. His statistics are mostly far ahead of any other QB, plus Wilson had the best won-loss record of any other quarterback and was leading the offense when Seattle won its lone Super Bowl. No, he wasn't the reason the Seahawks won, but he was certainly an important aspect.
In 2022, however, Wilson might have become one of the most polarizing figures in Seahawks history. He reportedly went to team ownership to try to get general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll fired. Wilson had a long history of seemingly pre-mediated answers to reporters' questions, but that suddenly seemed to be a cover-up for extreme arrogance.
Seattle traded Wilson to Denver where he washed out after two years and was released. The Seahawks, though, saw a vast increase in talent to the team because of the trade. Seattle added tight end Noah Fant in the move, but the team was also able to draft such players as Charles Cross, Boye Mafe, Derick Hall, and Devon Witherspoon.
All those draft picks happened in 2022 and 2023, however. No matter what Wilson did with the Broncos in 2023 had any bearing on who Seattle could draft in 2024. In other words, there was no real reason to have much love or dislike by 12s for Wilson other than the memories he gave fans from his days as the Seahawks quarterback; he no longer had any impact on what Seattle did in the future.
Wilson went from hero to pariah in his two seasons with Denver. He had a decent second year once Sean Payton had been hired as the head coach, but Payton can be a difficult person to play for and he and Wilson's approach to life and football seem quite opposite. The Broncos lost tens of millions of dollars by releasing Wilson, but he was never going to be a part of Payton's long-term goals. The quarterback was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason.
Wilson had an injury to begin the season and missed a number of games. Meanwhile, Justin Fields began as the Steelers QB1 and played decently. Pittsburgh was winning games. Wilson was still going to become the starter once healthy, but there was no guarantee he would be better than Fields. As it turns out, though, Wilson has been even better.
He is playing more like he did with the Seahawks. In fact, it's not difficult to imagine him wearing a Seattle jersey instead of a Pittsburgh one the way he is playing, seemingly freer than he was in Denver. And likely happier as well.
In four games, all Steelers wins, Wilson has six touchdown passes and just two interceptions. He still takes too many sacks and makes the bad-decision throw, but that is what 12s got used to when he was with the Seahawks as well. The important part is Wilson is having to prove himself all over again, and he is doing that to a degree. He was more like young Wilson in Seattle when no one was sure if he was going to be the team's long-term quarterback, but fans knew the defense was great.
Wilson even compared the Steelers to the Seahawks' Super Bowl team after Pittsburgh defeated the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. Wilson said, "I've been fortunate to be able to win a championship before. I think that we've, you know, on those championship teams, that Super Bowl team, we just had so much great talent. But the thing about talent is that you also have to have the work ethic, the drive, the will to win, and the ability to win close games. The ability to win on defense in a big, key moment to take the lead."
Wilson is always going to be a bit too polished for some fans. His answers sometimes ring false because they seem rehearsed. But he is also trying to prove his doubters wrong, and we all have to do that in life. Plus, Wilson is not a bad person, and he has no impact on the current Seahawks. It is finally time to be OK with rooting for Russell Wilson again.
